


Day 1 - Poisonous

by pec



Series: writeinktober 2018 [1]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, writeinktober
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-03
Updated: 2018-10-03
Packaged: 2019-07-24 13:03:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16175630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pec/pseuds/pec
Summary: a shortfic a day for #writeinktober





	Day 1 - Poisonous

The murky potion bubbled noisily in the cauldron, giving off a pungent smell, as Claudia crushed a piece of bicorn horn with a pestle. Once the concoction started spitting out liquid, she killed the flames with a wave of her hand and added the powder into the cauldron. The potion immediately turned from dark brown to phosphorescent lilac. Claudia beamed and wiped the sweat from her forehead. She turned the hourglass upside down and turned to look at the stairs, listening for footsteps. 

“Not here yet?” she said to herself and bit her lips as the sand in the hourglass steadily flowed into the lower chamber. 

A sudden clatter behind her made her whip around. From inside a hutch, the glow toad stared moodily back at Claudia. 

“Oh, you’re awake!” Claudia crouched down next to the hutch and inspected the burn marks around the toad’s mouth and throat. She recited an incantation over the caged creature which made the marks visibly dull. 

“I’m sorry, Bait,” she said, “but I have to keep you in here for a little bit longer.” 

Bait’s hide started glowing red, but then there was a thunderous sound of footsteps above and an excited “We’re here!” that made the toad return to his usual demeanor. 

Claudia stood back up as the basement was suddenly crowded with the arrival of three more kids. The youngest one went straight to Bait. 

“Hey, buddy,” said Ezran, staring at his pet with concern. “You all right? Hang in there, we’re going to get you out soon.” 

Claudia looked at the hourglass and sighed in relief. “You guys got back just in the nick of time.”

Rayla tossed a pouch at Claudia, who caught it at once. 

“Do you know how hard it is to go bat hunting in broad daylight?” said Rayla with a deep frown, folding her arms. “These are night creatures and should be hunted at nighttime!” 

“Well, we couldn’t wait that long since Bait is poisoned,” said Callum, rolling his eyes. “Remember Bait, Rayla? The one Claudia’s making an antidote for?” 

Rayla rounded on Callum. “You mean the one who ate a baneberry because of your carelessness?” 

Callum flushed. “A-Actually, it was Ezran’s carelessness.”

“I’m sorry,” said Ezran, hanging his head. Bait glowed blue. 

“Oh, who cares,” said Claudia loudly as Rayla placed a sympathetic hand on Ezran’s shoulder. “Let’s just focus on healing him now.”

Claudia added some more ingredients to the cooled mixture before ladling out the potion in a bowl. As Bait drank it quietly, his burn marks disappeared completely. Ezran hugged Claudia and quickly unbolted the hutch to take Bait in his arms. 

“Oh, Bait,” he said, “I’m so glad you’re okay!” 

As Callum kneeled down next to Ezran, Rayla turned to Claudia. “You’re not bad.”

Claudia tapped her nose happily. 

~*~

**Author's Note:**

> kudos and comments feed the soul


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